Tradition
by ThePlaceboEffects
Summary: When Henry volunteers his mothers to chaperone prom, and Regina admits that prom is something she wishes she'd experienced, Emma goes to great lengths to make sure Regina has a prom experience she'll never forget.


Happy Birthday to my beta and good friend Jaye! I hope you have an amazing 25th! For you I wrote a fluffy fluffy fluff fic because I know you like nice things and prom season is approaching, so, good timing? Since this _is_ a gift for my beta, this fic, ironically, is unbeta'd, thus all mistakes are my own.

* * *

"Moms!" Henry burst through the door of 108 Mifflin, startling Emma and Regina who were catching up over a glass of wine.

"What are you doing on the night of April 12th?"

"The night of your prom? Um..." Regina pulled out her phone, bringing up her calendar and scrolling to the date, "nothing, why?"

"Good. I might have signed you two up to chaperone prom. Ok great, love you bye!" Henry turned around to leave the room.

"Wait a minute!" Emma spoke up, "doesn't it matter if I'm doing anything?"

Henry raised an eyebrow at his blonde mother. "Are you Ma?"

"Well, no..."

"Alright, then it's settled. See you guys later!" Henry bounded up the stairs, presumably to do homework, or more realistically, play video games until dinner was ready.

"That's something I feel like I missed out on," Regina mused, taking a sip of her wine, " being young and in love, getting dressed up like adults and dancing the night away, buzzed on alcohol that you snuck from your parent's liquor cabinet," Regina cleared her throat, shaking her head, "it's a silly tradition really, but I always wondered what it would've been like. Did you ever go?"

Emma smiled, "yeah, actually. By senior year I wasn't the awkward orphan anymore, so I actually got asked. I scoured all the thrift stores in the area, and I found this seafoam green dress that fit like a glove. I borrowed a pair of my foster sister's silver heels..." The blonde's eyes glazed over with nostalgia, "that may have actually been one of the best nights of my life. For once, looking back, I can't think of a single bad thing that happened that night. I just stayed in a hotel with a couple friends, just like Henry's doing, and... it was amazing. It was my fairytale night."

Regina returned the smile, "that sounds nice."

"You didn't have some sort of prom in the Enchanted Forest?" Emma asked over her glass of wine.

"Well... technically there was the 'Graduation Ball,' but I was tutored privately my whole life, and then well... you and I were doing very different things by the time we were eighteen."

Emma averted her gaze, taking a sudden interest in the wine glass. "Right, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, it's in the past." Regina reached across the table and drew light circles across Emma's hand. "Anyways, are you staying for dinner tonight?"

"I... I just remembered something I have to do."

"Oh," Regina's face fell, but she worked quickly to hide it. "See you tomorrow then?"

"Of course." Emma got up from the table, finishing the rest of her wine in one gulp. She moved like she wanted to give Regina a hug, but settled for putting her hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "Tomorrow."

::::

Emma spent the following day running around town, avoiding Regina as much as possible (which in a small town, was a lot harder than she thought). If she was going to do this for her friend, she had to do it right. Henry had a yearbook meeting after school, and she had already checked with Regina's secretary, and she knew the brunette would be home by five-thirty.

Emma went home to change into a blazer, white button-down, black skinny jeans and heels, before heading over to Regina's. She pulled her Bug up to the mansion and took a moment to calm her nerves. Regina would either think this was sweet or stupid, and she was about to roll the dice and find out.

Emma got out of her car, and rolled her blazer sleeves up to her elbows. Grabbing the roses and boombox off the front seat, she took one more steadying breath before walking up to the front door.

Instead of ringing the doorbell, the blonde set the boombox down, and Tegan and Sara's 'Closer' started blasting from the speakers. It only took about five seconds before the telltale sound of heels clicking against the marble foyer ran out, and the door swung open.

"Emma, what's going on?"

Emma extended the hand that was holding the roses. "Regina Mills, my best friend, will you do me the honor of going to prom with me?"

"What are you... I..." Regina's eyes widened as she realized what Emma was doing; giving her the prom she never had. "Of course I will." Regina looked like she was seconds away from crying.

Emma hugged her this time, wrapping her arms around the brunette and lifting her off the ground in a spin made for the movies.

"You went to so much trouble," Regina said, taking the flowers that Emma had brought, smelling them, "you didn't have to."

Emma just shrugged, "it's tradition."

Regina's face turned pensive as she looked at the flowers in her hand.

"What?"

"Henry has the car on prom night. How are we going to get there? These are absolutely beautiful by the way."

"Don't worry, leave everything to me. Just look pretty, and I'll handle the rest."

Regina smiled, her eyes backlit, like coffee before the cream gets poured in. "I'll make sure my dress won't clash with yellow."

The blonde smiled back with a mischievous arch to her eyebrow. "Okay. I'll pick you up at six-thirty?"

"I'll be ready."

::::

Regina straightened Henry's tie for the umpteenth time as Emma snapped pictures of Henry, Violet, Snow and Charming. Henry and Violet were getting ready at Emma's house as it was a shorter drive to the school.

"You're still staying in a suite at the Holiday Inn outside of town tonight?" Regina asked, smoothing down Henry's hair.

"Yeah mom, we've got the reservation; Nicholas already checked us all in."

"And sleeping arrangements?"

Henry's cheeks turned pink under his mother's questioning. "Me and Vi in one room, Ava and Tom in another room, and Nick and Klaus are taking the pull-out couch."

Regina studied her son for a moment. "Okay, be _safe_ tonight, alright? And no drinking and driving young man."

"Mom, I'm not–"

His brunette mother cut him off. "You think I don't know Emma bought you that twelve-ouncer?" She glared at the blonde over Henry's shoulder, who at least had the wherewithal to look sheepish, while Violet looked like she was about to pass out. "I know how these things work, and I'm not here to ruin your fun, I just want my boy safe, okay?"

Henry looked between his two mothers and let out a sigh of relief. "Okay."

"If you need _anything_ , anything at all, call one of us and we'll be there, 'kay kid?" Emma said.

"For sure. We have to get going to the pre-party, so if you don't mind..." Henry extended his arm to Violet, who took it delicately.

"Our boy's all grown up." Emma said, bumping Regina's shoulder.

"One more picture before you go!" Snow chirped, taking the camera from Emma's hand. "Emma, Regina, you get in there too."

The two women stood at either side of the couple as the flash bulb went off once, twice, three times.

"Okay you two, get out of here before Grandma sends you blind," Emma laughed as she ushered the kids out of the door. "We'll see you two at school."

"Bye moms! Bye Grandma, bye Grandpa!" Henry called as he left through the doors.

"Charmings, Ms. Mills," Violet addressed the adults.

"Dear, _please_ stop calling me that." Regina rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face, "I've known you for years, we can drop the formalities."

The girl smiled back. "Okay, see you at the dance Regina!"

The kids left, leaving Emma, Regina, and the Charmings in Emma's living room. "Well we're going to get out of your hair so you two can get ready." David and snow moved towards the door to leave.

"Oh, I'm not getting ready here," Regina tilted her head, as if considering why she _was_ going home, they were both there anyways, and Emma _was_ closer to the school.

"Oh!" Snow tried to cover her surprise. "Well, nonetheless. Have a good night you two!" If Regina hadn't turned around, she would have seen Snow wink at the two, but Emma caught it.

"Goodbye mom," she said, all but shoving her parents out of the door.

"I'll be heading out too, six-thirty still good?"

"Yep, see you soon!"

Regina waved before disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving Emma alone with her thoughts, and only two hours to get ready.

::::

Emma pulled up to the mansion with two minutes to spare. She considered getting a bouquet of flowers again, but decided last-minute that it might be overkill. She did, however, pick up a corsage from Game of Thorns on her way over. She still wasn't sure what color Regina's dress was, so she oped for a white ranunculus, surrounded by gleaming silver leaves, sparkling tulle, and clusters of rhinestones, to match the white boutonniere on her lapel.

She knew how much Regina loved it when she wore suits, so she opted for form-fitting slacks, the same black heels she had worn when she asked Regina to prom, a less-casual black blazer, and a green silk shirt that made her eyes pop. She had also opted for a tie which, again, might be overkill, but she didn't find that she particularly cared.

She stood on Regina's porch, shaking out the nerves when her phone dinged, telling her it was exactly six-thirty. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but as she brought her hand up to the door to knock, she felt her stomach start somersaulting. Whoever said they had butterflies in their stomach was lying. Fuck butterflies, it felt like there was a hornets nest stinging every nerve in her body as the seconds ticked forward.

Regina opened the door, and when she came face to face with the brunette, both of them gasped. Regina was wearing a stunning floor length black gown that oozed sensuality and class, with understated diamond earrings sparkling from her ears. Her chocolate brown hair was swept into an updo, held by these delicate pins that looked like they were made from fairy dust itself, and a simple gold necklace hung around her neck with a turquoise pendant.

She was _breathtaking_.

"Regina you look..." Emma was at a loss for words; there wasn't a string of words in the English language that could do Regina justice, so she settled with "magnificent."

Regina smiled, moving to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear that wasn't there. "It's not too much?"

"Not at all."

The brunette gave Emma a once-over, her eyes raking up the blonde's body like she was studying every inch of it. "You should wear suits more, they look so beautiful on you."

"Will do," Emma said with a smirk. "Your corsage, Your Majesty." Emma pulled the box with the floral wrist accessory out of her jacket pocket and opened it for Regina's inspection.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Regina said, peeking into the box, before she gasped again. "I love ranunculus blossoms, how did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Emma blushed, putting the corsage on Regina's wrist. "And it's tradition, how could I not?" Once the flower was on Regina's wrist, Emma continued, "if you're ready, our chariot awaits."

"I just need to get my clutch, then we can be on our way."

Regina walked away for a brief moment to get her bag from the other room, which gave Emma just enough time to dry her sweating palms on her pants before the brunette returned.

"Ready."

Emma offered Regina her arm, which she took with a bashful grin. Emma had been standing in the doorway in such a way that Regina hadn't seen the car that Emma had pulled up in, until now.

She stopped dead in her tracks and gaped. Waiting outside of the house was a chauffeur-driven black stretch limousine.

"Oh, Emma," the brunette looked awestruck, while Emma could only grin in response. "There isn't even a limo company in Storybrooke, how did you get this?"

"I know some people who know some people." Emma said with a nonchalant shrug.

"You're impressing me Miss Swan," Regina remarked, pulling the blonde into the back seat.

"Storybrooke High my good man," Emma said as she closed the car door behind her.

"Sure thing ma'am," the man said from the other side of the partition.

As the car pulled off, Emma pulled a bottle of champagne out from under the seat.

" _Emma_ , we can't drink, we're chaperoning!"

"Shh," Emma said, popping the bottle without a mess, "we have to do this right, it's tradition."

Regina rolled her eyes, but when Emma poured her a glass, she took it.

"To your first prom" Emma said with a smile. They clinked glasses and sipped on their champagne until they pulled up to the school. The limousine ended up parking across four spots, and the driver assured them that he'd be waiting for them when the night was done.

::::

Before the students showed up, Emma and Regina got the photographer to snap a couple of cheesy prom photos, with props, awkward poses, the whole shebang. Regina played it off like the whole thing was ridiculous, but not-so-deep down, she was beyond touched at the lengths that Emma was going to to make the night special.

Just as they stepped out of the photo area, the first of the students arrived, and Regina snapped into chaperone mode, circling the gym. Emma joined her after one of her rounds with two glasses of punch.

"You look like you could use this," Emma offered Regina the glass. The brunette took it gratefully, scrunching up her face when she realized it was spiked with what tasted like cheap vodka.

"Emma..." she warned.

"Drinking spiked punch at prom is tradition. I promise you, my eagle-eyed companion, half these kids are already drunk off their asses."

"What?"

"Just make sure no one pukes on the dance floor, hold back hair if you need to, and have a taxi on speed-dial," Emma shrugged. "Enjoy yourself, come on." Emma wrapped an arm around Regina's shoulder, imploring the woman to have a little fun.

Regina looked down at the punch as if it had personally offended her, before shrugging and downing the entire contents of the glass in one go. "Alright, what the hell."

Thankfully there were no alcohol-related incidents, but Regina _did_ have to break up a couple of too-steamy-for-school makeout sessions, but that was about it.

Songs by The Chainsmokers, Rihanna, and Bruno Mars, among others, punctuated the dance. A few times throughout the night, Emma would pass by Regina, putting her hand on her arm in such a way that the rest of the gym didn't see what was going on between them, and poured more and more of the contents of her flask into their glasses.

"Last dance everyone," the DJ called out.

The students who were bold enough to slow dance with their date flooded onto the dance floor, while the shyer ones relegated themselves to the corner. Green Day's 'Time of Your Life' started playing from the speakers, and everyone started swaying to the music. By this point, Emma was properly buzzed, which is why she was bolder than she usually would be.

"May I have this dance?" Emma extended her hand, catching Regina off-guard.

"Of course."

They stayed near the edge of the dance-floor, not trying to draw too much attention to themselves. Regina fit into Emma's arms perfectly, and she found herself not wanting to leave this moment. They held hands, heads on each others shoulders, cursing the clock for still ticking forward. Like a Cinderella story, when the clock struck midnight, the spell would be broken.

 _'Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road  
_ _Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go...'_

"I can't believe they still play this song," Emma remarked, "they played this at _my_ prom."

Regina snorted, "and you _are_ a thousand years old."

"You're one to talk!" Emma blushed, not sure if she took it too far.

Regina looked up at Emma, and her cheeks were gorgeously crimson. Regina realized she loved, and somewhere deep down, the tint to Emma's cheeks replaced black as her favorite color.

"Yep, I am." Emma twirled Regina then, catching the brunette momentarily off guard. When Regina was back in Emma's arms, she looked up at the blonde, looked at her eyes shining in the light of the fairy lights that were hanging around the gym.

 _'It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,  
_ _I hope you had the time of your life...'_

Emma returned her gaze, and just as Regina took a deep breath, the flood lights came on all at once.

"Goodnight everyone, drive safe!" The DJ called from his booth.

And just like that, the magic was over. They were just people standing in a school gym wearing clothes that were too nice for the venue, and slightly out of place in their small town. Reluctantly, the woman let go of each other and started doing rounds, making sure the bathrooms and hallways of the school were cleared out. Regina and Emma re-entered the gym from opposite doors, in time to see Henry looking for them.

"Just wanted to tell you two goodnight!" He wrapped one arm around each of his mothers. "See you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight Henry," Regina resisted the urge to kiss his forehead.

"You know where to find us if you need anything."

"Mhmm." Henry walked away and met up with Violet who was waiting with their jackets by the door. Violet waved at Emma and Regina before she walked out of the gym, Henry's arm around her waist.

"You did a good job with him," Emma said, watching the pair fade into the throng of students.

" _We_ did."

They both looked at each other then and smiled.

"Let's get out of here." Emma took off her blazer and gave it to Regina, who slipped her arms into the sleeves gratefully. While it was April, it was still midnight in Maine, and she had been cursing herself all night for not bringing some sort of jacket.

They stepped into the night, and into the limo that was waiting for them. It seemed that no one else had hired a limo for the evening, so it was the talk of the dance who came in the ostentatious car, apparently. Henry's jaw dropped when he saw his moms get into the limousine, but he couldn't say anything before they got in the car, waving from the window as it drove away.

"Wanna drive around town for a bit?" Emma asked.

"Sure, why not."

"Can you just circle?" Emma asked the driver.

"Sure thing ma'am."

The car drove up and down every street in town, passing Emma's house, her parent's loft, and the pier. They passed around the rest of the champagne, choosing to drink straight from the bottle.

"There's one more thing we have to do before the night is done," Emma bounced her eyebrows dangerously.

"What is it?"

"Take off your heels, then come with me."

Emma shifted towards the center of the car, and opened the sunroof.

"Emma, it's _freezing_!"

"Just for a second, come on."

Reluctantly, Regina moved towards the sunroof, and Emma stood up, pulling her up with her. The wind whipped their hair and stung their face, but Emma couldn't help but grin.

"Okay, now," Emma shifted so she was standing behind Regina, "put your hands up," Regina did what Emma said, and Emma took Regina's hands in her own, "and cheer."

"What?"

"Like this," Emma took a deep breath and cheered into the night.

"That seems silly," Regina said, but she was laughing.

"It's tradition, you have to."

Regina rolled her eyes, before shouting "whooooo!" as the limo continued to drive down the quiet Storybrooke streets.

Emma ducked down and pulled Regina down with her. Regina stumbled and ended up in Emma's lap, erupting in a fit of giggles.

"See, fun right?"

"I _guess_ ," Regina rolled her eyes, but she was still laughing.

"Did you have a good night?" Emma asked in earnest.

Regina stopped laughing and thought about it, "yeah, I did. Thank you Emma."

"Hey, any time."

The limousine pulled up in front of Regina's mansion. "Do you want me to keep driving?"

Regina looked at Emma, "I think we're okay."

"Very well." The driver got out of the car and walked around to open the door. Regina climbed out first, still wearing Emma's blazer, and Emma followed. She reached under the seat for the white envelope she'd stashed there earlier, and discreetly gave it to the driver while Regina's back was turned.

"Thank you for getting us home safely," Regina said.

"You're welcome ma'am, just doing my job. Have a good night ladies." He nodded towards the pair before retreating into his limousine and driving away.

Emma walked Regina to her door, and the brunette returned Emma's blazer once she was on the porch.

"Goodnight Regina," Emma turned to leave.

"Do you..." Emma stopped, waiting for Regina to continue, "...want to come in for a nightcap?"

"Sure."

::::

Emma entered Regina's foyer for the second time that night, kicking off her shoes and hanging her blazer as she was greeted with the warmth of the house. By the time Emma was seated on the couch in front of the fire that Regina had lit, the brunette was coming back with two glasses of cognac.

Instead of sitting in the arm chair, Regina took the seat beside her on the couch, handing Emma her glass before she sat down.

"Thanks again for tonight Emma, it meant a lot." Regina said, over the rim of her glass.

"Of course, it was my pleasure."

The women sat in silence, thigh to thigh, enjoying their drink, until Regina got up on and put a song on her old record player. Some artist Emma didn't recognize started crooning from the speaker, and Regina put her glass down on the sideboard beside the record player. "May I have one last dance?" This time, it was Regina who asked.

Emma nodded, putting her glass down on the floor by where she was sitting. Emma put her hands around Regina's waist, while the brunette reached up and draped her arms over Emma's shoulders and around her neck.

They didn't say anything, they didn't have to. They just swayed in the quiet music, basking in the firelight that was warming their skin. Emma looked down at the woman in her arms, her eyes shining in the low light. The electric current between them seemed like it had been building all day, all week, for all the months and _years_ when it was impossible to do anything other than imagine. Alone in a room, finally, it all hovered. The need - the fear of reality disappointing fantasy - the affection so strong that the force of it was almost frightening. Their eyes met. That was all it took. The kiss came feather-light. A brush of lips. Entirely not the crushing, heated, frantic thing she'd almost expect from them. And, maybe, just maybe, her knees turned to jelly a bit.

When Regina moved her hand to run it through Emma's hair, that broke her out of her reverie, and she realized exactly what she was doing. She might be ruining the single best friendship she'd ever had in her life, and she stepped back.

"I think I drank too much I'm _so_ sorry, forget I did that," the blonde stammered.

"I'll do no such thing." This time Regina leaned in first, capturing the blonde's lips in a searing kiss. This kiss was a messier, graceless, eager thing. Fingers tangled in hair, stifled groans because it seemed impossible that something so simple as lips upon lips could feel like _this_. She shuffled even closer to deepen the kiss, content with spending the rest of the night in Regina's arms, if she'd let her.

Regina broke the kiss, and Emma opened her eyes slowly, worried that any sudden movement would break the spell they'd found themselves under. There was a contented sigh from one of the two mixed in at some point, but she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out who it was.

"Would you be interested in finishing this prom night _upstairs_?" Regina asked with a particular inflection that left no room for misinterpretation.

"I–" Emma nearly choked on her words. Her head was spinning, her mouth was dry, and at this moment, she'd bet money that she was dreaming. "Are you sure?"

"Mhmm," She gazed at Emma with a smirk that would make a saint twitch, and in that moment she knew she was in trouble. "It's only tradition."

She didn't have to say any more. Emma nodded, and Regina took Emma's hand and led them upstairs, where they ended their night, and began their happy ending, all at the same time.

 **THE END**


End file.
